Apples

I love Macintosh! I love the apple named that but I really love the apple computer store more. Since we are vacationing in Rochester, NY and there happens to be an apple store in the mall about 10 miles away, I conveniently made an appointment to see a "Mac Genius" today at 1:00. For you non Macintosh readers, let me do a little bit of educating so you know what I am talking about!

Anytime that you buy any kind of Macintosh hardware weather it be an ipod shuffle or a top of the line computer, you get special "Genius" privileges. It means that you can go into any Apple store in America and get software or hardware assistance FOR FREE. So if your ipod stops working, you go in and they will fix it or sometimes even give you a new one--FOR FREE. Sometimes, your computer gets a little sick and needs some special medicine that only Genius people have. So you take your computer in and it gets "all better" FOR FREE. Once, my white top part of my Macbook got really dirty looking and they replaced it FOR FREE. It was a happy day.

A few weeks before Christmas, I noticed that my Macbook was starting to chip on the top white part where you'd put your palms right on top of the hard drive unit. This made me extremely nervous because I have dropped my Macbook and had to replace my hard drive. It was under warranty and guess what? They replaced it FOR FREE! Anyway, back to my present matter at hand. Today I walked into the Apple Store and wanted a Genius to look at my "chipping" problem. I knew I was going to have to pay this time because my computer is no longer under warranty. Sadness. I had booked a 1:00 appointment online the day before online and promptly at 1:03, I was staring into the beautiful blue eyes of John, my genius. He took one look at my problem, shut my computer down, popped out the battery in the back, and scanned my special barcode. He typed in some important (I guess) stuff into his little Macbook and said after a few minutes, "We can fix it today, would you have an hour of shopping to do while you wait". To which I replied, "Why certainly, I would be happy to waste an hour in your lovely mall". So there you have it.

About 45 minutes later, I had my new laptop in my hands. And my receipt. And guess what? It was once again all done FOR FREE. I not only have a new top but I have a new keyboard as well. It looks almost brand new. I don't know why it was free. I got a receipt that said the repair would have cost me $224.06. But I didn't pay anything. It is truly a marvelous day because once again, I have a new laptop!

I bought a new Scrabble game to celebrate!

Later,
Heidi

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I am a bit late getting this post up but I felt that family time today was more important than blog time.

My parents and my two uncles arrived at our house around 10:30. The kids made the decision last night to WAIT to open gifts until they arrived. I helped their patience out by allowing them to exchange gifts that they had purchased (with my money) for each other. SO, they each had a toy to play with for a few hours this morning.

We had a delicious meal after the present hoopla and a few hours later said goodbye to our visitors. Then I proceeded to spend the next 2 hours on the couch in a food induced coma. It was a lovely day!

Tomorrow I plan to get up and do some exercising. I feel so much better when I am more physically fit. And I tend to sleep better too!

Here is how our cat, Cassie, spent most of the advent season:

I hope your day was filled with food, family, and festive naps! Merry Christmas!

Heidi

My few loyal followers

I finally looked at my blog today. 6 other people did too. They are my faithful friends. I can see the location using my nifty sitemeter so I sort of know who they are.

I have been buried this week. Buried by present wrapping, cookie baking, a cold, more present wrapping, and most of all SNOW! Lots of snow. After the plow finally came through today, it was piled up to the opening of the mailbox! We have had 55 inches of snow so far and winter only started yesterday!

The kids love it. They are into building snow forts and snowmen and having/preparing for big snowball fights. They love to hang out on the hill at the end of our driveway. They call it "the giant snow hill". It is really cool!

Tomorrow we have our 3rd storm coming through the area. It is supposed to dump 5-10 inches more on us. I am not sure where it will all go! As I look outside into the other neighbor's yards, the new snow is so pretty....totally undisturbed and perfect in its placement. I then look in our own front yard and our snow is all stomped down with a stray sled or shovel strewn across the lawn. Millions of little footprints fill up the whole landscape. Our snow isn't perfect at all. In fact it is downright ugly! And do you know what? I wouldn't want it any other way! I like having the neighborhood come over and play! And I am glad we live in Michigan so that the kids can have so much fun!

I'll take a picture next time they are on the "giant hill". It will be a great memory.

Make it a great day!
Heidi

Some big days ahead.

I haven't been posting. I have wanted to but December has finally caught up with me and for the next week or so, my life will cease to exist but instead it will be woven into every kind of Christmas party, concert, church service, and decorating extravaganza known to mankind.

Tomorrow is a perfect example of why anyone who is contemplating going into music as a career should think twice about it! Here is my schedule.

7:45 Bell choir rehearsal
8:30 Church service #1 --Bell anthem
10:00 Choir Rehearsal
11:00 Church service #2--Bell anthem, 2 choir anthems
12:30 Childrens' pageant rehearsal
1:30 Arrive in Comstock for my Chorale Concert. Reset two lights that were too bright and need new gels.
2:00 64 other ladies arrive!
2:15 Rehearse "O Holy Night" with solist for the first time!
3:00 Conduct the Concert
4:30 Eat Dinner with my Parents who have travelled from Lapeer to see the concert!
5:30 Church Choir Christmas Party
8:30 Hopefully home.

So, there you have it. And then I do this type of schedule all over again on Tuesday and Thursday next week too!

I will post some pictures of the choir as soon as my mom takes them and sends them!

Feliz Navidad. Mele Kalikimaka. Joyeux Noel. Ho Ho.

Heidi

Thanksgiving Morning

Happy Thanksgiving! We spent the morning (about 1 hour) in the arcade. I spent a huge amount of money supplying tokens to 2 very ravenously hungry game players. They weren't hungry for food but they were hungry for tokens. I liked playing Deal or No Deal. I realize that it is all guessing and luck but there is something about being able to stand on a lit up floor panel and punch numbers that correspond to suitcases that thrills me to no end. My best game (and I played many), was when I "won" 85 tickets. The highest amount of tickets you could win was 200 so I really felt like I had gotten my 4 tokens worth out of that game.

And now friends, in case you are wondering, here is what my $50 worth of tokens bought:

Off to the waterpark this afternoon. I'll take some pictures. Not of me, or course, but of other fat people wondering around the park! How absolutely mean.

Heidi

I am baking without an oven!

We arrived at Great Wolf Lodge about 3 p.m. this afternoon. We have been looking forward to this vacation since September. Last night Stan came down with the flu. He tried so hard to sleep it off this morning and be ready to go but truthfully the thought of riding in a car for 3.5 hours and then having his body wrenched in different directions as he hurdled down the waterslides was just too much for him to even think about.

Great Wolf has a policy that they take your first night's fee off your credit card on the day that you reserve the room. I didn't want to leave my better half at home but if we didn't go, we would be out close to $200.00. Money eventually won and the kids and I piled into the car for a "new" kind of Thanksgiving.

This is our second year at the Lodge. (That's what we "cool" people call this place). It is always fun. The water park is huge. You can choose a simple trek on an innertube around Lazy River, or you can walk over to McKenzie's Fort and climb your way up through a maze of ropes, tubes, and contraptions until you make it to a 48 foot high waterslide that is super fast. Or you can travel over to a pool and shoot some hoops. Or you can climb up 5 flights of stairs and ride an innertube down the most gigantic water slide thingy you have ever seen! Or you can sit in a jacuzzi until your skin shrivels up like a prune. The choices are marvelous.

Thanksgiving Dinner is to die for. It is full of salads, meats, traditional thanksgiving fare, and the all important CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN. They have mini rice crispy treats to dip! How fun is that! The rooms are very spacious and the amenities are foofty. Everything comes in Extra Large size. Take the shampoo for instance. A full 6 ounces in a cool bottle! And it smells like vanilla. And the soap smells like vanilla too. I am sitting here smelling my hair and body as I type and I feel like I am baking cookies. It is a lovely feeling.

The kids are freshly bathed. I can't wait to see which cookie I get to sleep with tonight! Happy Thanksgiving Eve.

Heidi

Sam I Am. Part 2

Do you remember this day a few months back? Today, I hit the taste testing Bonanza at Sam's Club. I was going in for a beef roast and blackberries. I came out very full and I hadn't eaten the roast or the blackberries!

When I walked in the door, I showed my card, flashed the card checker an encouraging smile and ran smack into a table that was filled with sweet samples including cheesecake, pumpkin pie, chocolate chiffon cake and a puff pastry of some sort. I passed the table trying not to be tempted. They put all that stuff on one plate! It looked extremely good.

I rounded the first corner and BAM....I saw another table with shrimp and cocktail sauce. I took one of those because they are low fat, low calorie, and they were gigantic in size. They barely fit intp one of those little tester cups.

I made it halfway to the back of the store where the meat was and once again I was greeted with another sample. This time it was chicken spinach sausage. Those little samples were very good.

I finally reached the meat and low and behold, I found myself standing in a small line for the next gift. I figured that since there were 3-4 people ahead of me that the sample must be really special. Well, move over small tester cups; hello little plates! On my plate was a beef wellington puff pastry, a spinach quiche, and a bacon wrapped piece of filet mignon. Oh, and a cup of sparkling white grape juice to slosh it all down.

I finally arrived at the beef roast section and found a good selection of cuts. Everyone seemed to be flocking to another portion of the meat section close to the turkeys. I wondered what was over there? I pressed on towards the Blackberries.

Standing in my way of making anymore progress was the seafood lady. She was handing out samples of lobster stuffed ravioli. She didn't need to twist my arm much, Lobster can really get to me in a good way. I don't mean to be rude, but Sam's needs to invest in bigger testing cups and spoons. This ravioli was so big (about the size of half a note card) that the lady had to shove it into the cup and it just flopped all over the sides. Can we say "fat girl's heaven on earth?"

I finally reached the blackberries. It was a good moment in my life. The visit had already been filled with lovely samples, what more (besides fruit) did I need? I started my escape to the checkout lines. There was a sample line in front of me a mile long. I wasn't going to stand in this line. I did see a plate from that line though....it had a bacon wrapped scallop, cheese cake, chocolate lava cake, green bean casserole, and something very big and delicious looking. I think it was a crab cake. I was still full. So I kept walking.

When I reached the checkout line, I was surprised to be able to walk right up and check out. It had been a really awesome day at Sam's Club.

Later peeps,
Heidi

Word Smittin

Nathan's Language Arts teacher is very creative. My son is not one that especially likes to creatively write. This year, though, he loves his teacher and has started to love writing! A few weeks back Mrs. H baked a cake and brought it in to English class to celebrate a "Going Away" party. The students were a bit confused at first because they had no members that were leaving or moving away. During this party, the class said goodbye to the following words: got, getting, get, and a lot.

I have noticed that new words are replacing these "vacationing" words now in Nate's everyday speaking. Here are some things I have actually heard from him in the last week!

1. I would like to go to Meijer and obtain a plethora of food to eat.
2. I am in possession of my favorite cereal.
3. I have a myriad of games to try online tonight.
4. I have a super abundance of homework to complete since I was sick.
5. There is a vast array of things I'd like to play with tonight including my Legos.

He also used "gaggle" and "cornucopia" but those sentences were too bizarre to remember!
I hope this continues. It is fun to watch him think before he speaks!

Happy Friday.
Heidi

Just a quick tidbit

On my way out the door tonight, I told both children that I expected them to empty the garbage from all the rooms in the entire house. When I arrived 3 hours laters, the job hadn't been done. They said they "forgot".

I turned the TV off that they were watching and told them to immediately go and do the job. It had gotten to be quite late so I said, "and since you didn't do what I asked you to do when you were asked, I am going to have to punish you." I proceeded to tell them that they were to go upstairs and get into bed with absolutely no silent reading tonight.

Madison put up a huge fuss and said, "Mom, this is the meanest punishment you have ever given to us. I can't believe that you don't think this is child cruelty".

I laughed silently and left her room. I love my kids!

Blessings,
Heidi

My Ladies Choir

I don't know if I have mentioned this too much but I direct a community ladies group once a week comprising of 63 ladies who love to sing! They gather at a local school in order to sing, fellowship, and learn a little music along the way.

I really love the job. It is a chance to share my love of teaching vocal music in a non school environment. I don't take attendance, I don't have to listen to the morning announcements, and I don't have to be my own piano player! It is an absolutely fabulous experience.

As I get to know these ladies better, I have started to share a few personal stories with them. I opened up to them last night and started the rehearsal by apologizing for my somewhat abrupt and irritated mood because it was the "first day of cutting down my food intake". I was really surprised at how quiet things got when I shared. At the end of my "diet speech", a rather large woman said in a very serious voice, "Heidi, I don't want you to feel bad about being on a diet....I am currently on three of them." The group was still very quiet and looked at her in shock and amazement. She then said, "One diet wasn't enough food so I upped it to three".

It was REALLY funny and did that group ever roar!

Blessings for a fat free healthy week!
Heidi

Coming Back Home

I was sitting in church this morning and realized that I needed to keep my promise and write in my blog. So here it goes!

Yesterday the children and I raked leaves while the snow fell at 8 a.m. I am sure that there were people peeking out their windows wondering if I was mentally stable or not. I mean really! 8a.m. on a cold, wet dreary Saturday morning? They would have seen 3 very mismatchedly dressed people wondering around pointing and figuring out the game plan. Finally after much talking and hearing everyone's opinion on "the proper way to clear the yard" we came to a conclusion. I fired up the blower, the kids wielded the rakes and we got to work. About 1 hour later the leaves were very wet and heavy but we had finally finished. We were all cold, cranky, tired, and hungry for breakfast!

I don't ask the children to do much around the house. I should. But yesterday Madison said something that truly was astounding to hear from a 9 year old's mouth. She said, "Mom, I really hated raking the leaves. It was hard work and incredibly boring. But do you know what? I really liked working all together as a family like that to get a job done. It was awesome. We should do more of these kinds of projects." And she walked away.

Wow. I needed to hear that. And especially from her.

Oh, she lost another tooth later in the day yesterday. That means the children have lost a total of 3 teeth since Halloween. I am now officially broke. Or the tooth fairy is. We are very closely related you know!

Make it a great day!

Heidi

A blog vacation.

I need a little rest from my blog because posting once a week is just wearing me out! Actually, I have been very absorbed in work and family and haven't felt particularly inspired to share out!

I will be back next Sunday, so set a reminder on your calendar and don't forget to come back for a visit.

Thanks!
Heidi

Tigers are very Smart!

I have always wondered how smart one of our cats is. Tiger always seems to know when it is about time to get up in the morning because he runs into my bedroom and bounds onto my leg or arm. Since he weighs in at a hefty 12 pounds, this serves as a cat alarm clock. It is much cheaper than batteries.

He also is a good problem solver which I think goes hand in hand with smartness. When we first moved into our house a few years back a cold streak happened in September. When the cold came, so did a family of mice. One evening around 7p.m., the mouse family decided to make a grand appearance on the first floor. Tiger went CRAZY. He raced around the house. That mouse was no match for a cat with no front claws! But Tiger, being the smart boy he is, solved the problem and sat right on top of the mouse. We watched his hair bristle back and forth as the mouse moved underneath him! And Tiger never gave up. He persisted until Stan finally rescued both cat and mouse from their fun.

And finally to close my three point paper on Tiger smartness, I end with this. Although Tiger is very gifted, he does have one small shortcoming. He barfs a lot. He has hairballs. Even with expensive hairball care catfood. Sometimes he goes for weeks without a barf but mostly he surprises us with a little pile every few days or so. He is usually quite thoughtful and keeps it very dry and in a straight line. Sort of looks like the letter "I" most of the time.

Well today, he proved his smartness once and for all. Ladies and gentlemen, I present you with Tiger's latest masterpiece:


I personally think he is trying to tell me to watch CS and an implied "I" this week on TV.


Okay. Off to direct a ladies choir!
Heidi

A Culinary Tip

I do not profess to be a Rachel Ray or Emeril in the kitchen but I do think that I can hold my own most of the time. Tonight was a true testament to my cooking prowess. I had some hamburger in the fridge that was about to expire and since we have about overdosed on Meat Lasagna and Veggie Lasagna leftover from our Sunday party, I decided that it was time to use up the meat. I started to skim through the online cookbooks but every hamburger casserole sounded like a variation of Lasagna or Beef with mushroom soup and rice and I am not a fan of that recipe. I went to the Soup section and decided to go with Taco Soup because I have never made it and I know a teacher who brings it to lunch and I want to be more like her.

Here is the original recipe:
* 2 pounds ground beef
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 1 can pinto beans
* 1 can whole kernel corn, drained
* 1 can stewed tomatoes - mexican style
* 1 can Rotel tomatoes
* 1 pkg. taco seasoning mix -(opt.)
* 1 pkg. original hidden valley ranch dressing(dry)
* 2 1/2 cups water or more, to make soup broth

Before I started, I was sure that I had ALL of these ingredients in my pantry or my basement grocery store so I started browning the meat. Immediately I should have noticed that I was doomed. I had just 1lb of ground beef not 2 lbs as the recipe stated. I should have made hamburgers. Because in looking back at this recipe, I only had 3 ingredients (and one of them was water) out of 9. This was really going to be a stretch for my better than Paula Dean cooking contest.

Here were my substitutions in italics:
* 2 pounds ground beef 1 pound ground beef
* 1 large onion, chopped Had this!
* 1 can pinto beans 1 can black beans
* 1 can whole kernel corn ,drained 1 can creamed corn!!
* 1 can stewed tomatoes - mexican style 1 can diced tomatoes
* 1 can Rotel tomatoes Huh? What is this? Added 1 small can chilies and a can of tomato sauce
* 1 pkg. taco seasoning mix -(opt.) Had this!
* 1 pkg. original hidden valley ranch dressing(dry)Read the ingredients on my hidden valley ranch dressing bottle and added a splash of vinegar and dash of garlic salt
* 2 1/2 cups water or more, to make soup broth Who can't come up with water?
So, how did it come out?


It actually tasted really good! Especially if you added grated cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream on the top. And don't forget the side of tortilla chips! :)

Blessings and bon appetit,
Heidi

A few Pictures!

Since there are HUNDREDS of regular readers that have never seen my house, I thought I would do little show and tell. Plus, we only have it this clean 2 times a year....Fall party and Christmas party!

This is the front entance area.

If you look to the right when you enter,
you see the little bathroom tucked down at the end of the
room and Stan's office that we put a frenchdoor on.

His office--off limits to the general public as well
as our cats!

Living room that has Madison paper bats
hanging on the mantle.

More living room.

Between the living room and the kitchen/breakfast
nook. We don't usually have that eating table there.

Breakfast nook and more Maddie Halloween.
Sliding doors lead to baby grand shaped back porch!

Kitchen that is too small but pretty!

Dining room with my too small kitchen
in the background.

And that does it for the first floor. I need paint and curtains....but that will be another post!

Heidi

Shingles

For about 4 days, I have had this weird burning/bruised feeling on the top left side of my head. It is so painful that when I sleep on that side, it wakes me up! I racked my brain for the first two days and knew that I hadn't bumped my head on anything and I didn't have the tell tale "knot" on my head. So I grew a little bit concerned.

On Tuesday night, I commented to a friend while chatting with them online that I thought I might be coming down with the flu. I felt my lips burning (this is how I 'feel' a fever coming), my head was aching, and the left side of my face was uncomfortable. So I just went to bed.

On Friday, I decided that it would be wise to see a doctor. When I arrived I was greeted with the following, "Hey Heidi. I can't believe how long it has been since you've been here--January 2006...you must really be sick!"

When I walked out of the office 20 minutes later, he had diagnosed me with the early stages of Shingles. I am not really a candidate for shingles. Most sufferers are over 60, have a compromised immune system, and are under a lot of stress. But, it does hit about 2% of my age bracket who are otherwise healthy. I read a lot about it last night online because I was curious as to what the symptoms are. After reading the articles, I pretty much agree that I may have shingles.

It is most unpleasant. It is quite painful. I am able to carry on with life and I am on some pretty heavy duty drugs. I haven't had the blisters develop on top of each other yet. (I think this is where the name came from). I am waiting for them. When they happen, I will stay home because people who haven't been vaccinated or had the illness in childhood can catch the chicken pox from me. They could last a long time. Oh, did I mention that I have no idea what to do about my choir concert in 4 days?

Tomorrow I have 17 people (one of Stan's graduate classes) coming over for an open house dinner. Today I work my magic on the first floor of this house and cook a lot of food. And today I wait for the Blister Family to arrive. Maybe they will be in time for my party tomorrow.

So, there you have it. Life in the very best form!

Blessings,
Heidi

A Concert...again.

As a choral music director/teacher, I struggle with whether I want my choir to "know" music or just perform music. It is very easy to pick one road or the other yet I am not sure which one is better. I try every year to cram more teaching of the literacy/technical points of music while still trying to uphold a pretty rigorous concert/performance schedule. Usually the two collide many times during the trimester and my job becomes extremely frustrating.

Let me try to explain: In September and October, I focus on the very basics of tone production, vowel formation, and breathing--these all deal with the performance side of vocal music. I also spend equal amounts of time on Rhythm, Solfege (do, re mi's), note reading, and interval training--these would fall into the literacy part of "knowing" music. And then all of the sudden, we stop. We stop sight reading, rhythm reading, and ear/interval training because we have a concert to give. And then right after that concert (which is next week), we have about 25 class days to get ready for a Christmas concert. And the vicious cycle begins again.

Sometimes I wish I would have chosen to become a Math or Science teacher. (this is a joke because these are my WORST subjects). But honestly, those departments have teams of teachers that work together to align curriculum so that it works. Choir teachers are rarely found in teams but usually are singletons. So, who do we begin to align curriculum with? When we have monthly department meetings, I gather with the 4 gym teachers, 1 art teacher (who now is teaching at the elementary as well so she doesn't attend) and the band director (who teaches at the middle school during the meeting time!). It is called a "specials" team. Isn't it special that there are 4 gym teachers and 1 choir teacher that gather in one place to talk about things that they DON'T have in common? I don't think it is an extremely useful way to spend my time!

I now know why I am a special teacher. I am all alone. I teach in my own wing of the building. I rarely see another adult on any given day. I can go for days without communicating with any adult during work hours if I choose. I can actually get work done in my office (which I don't share with any other teacher) and not ever be tempted with idle chit chat. This makes me special. HELLO?? Does anyone know me? Do you know that I love to gab with anyone in sight? Sometimes, I walk up to the office copy machine (off limits to teachers) and make copies so that SOMEONE will say hello to me. So what is so special about this?

I teach my choirs to sing. I teach them to read music. I teach them to love music and respect each others gift. I deep down know this is why I am special. What math or science teacher does this? Oh, and have you ever heard of a "Math Concert"? Yup. Me neither.

And now onto a little plea. Would ANYONE like to direct my concert next week? My kids can sing an "O" vowel perfectly (when I convince them to and they are all paying attention) and they can count simple rhythms but they aren't really ready for this public performance piece of the curriculum. It is so hard to put my reputation out there every 6-7 weeks. I guess this makes me special too.

YUCK!
Heidi

How did this happen?

I don't have a logical explanation for this but tonight I have nothing to do and no place that I have to go. What's up? Could I have an appointment that I am forgetting? Is there a rehearsal that will be without a director? Can I really begin to "catch up"? I hope I haven't just jinxed my plans or lack there of.

Thought you might want to know!

Heidi

When did they grow up?

I frequently have Nathan let himself into the house when he gets home each day. This way he has a little bit of alone time to do his homework and practice trombone before Madison makes her entrance about an hour later. Most days, I am rolling into the garage a few minutes before or after she gets home. Today I was about 20 minutes late pulling up.



I always wonder what they do when I am gone. Today I entered the house to find this going on:
















I am really not joking! I am just not sure how to punish them!
Happy Wednesday!

There comes a time when only a song will do.

An event that happened tonight has changed my life.

IN YOUR NICEST VOICE, SING THE FOLLOWING TO THE TUNE OF "YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE". OUTLOUD. PLEASE. NOW.

When I got home from
My choir practice,
I spied a package on my porch.
It was a brown box
With lots of writing,
And my heart,
It lept with joy.

Inside the brown box
Was lots of paper--
The shredded type that hamsters use.
I spied my brown purse
Inside a sittin'.
And my heart,
It lept again with joy.

I now have credit
Oh lots of credit!
And a bit of cash to use.
I have an i.d.
And lots of receipts
And some hamster shred inside
As well.

Oh Mr. UP's man,
You are my sunshine.
You know just how to treat me well.
Your brown truck pulled up
And then you jumped out.
And you changed my life for the good.


Thanks Vangie for taking care of me!

A trip down memory lane

7 1/2 years ago.
And it just keeps getting better!

Vangie

We had planned to do nothing when we met in Indiana. We both were exhausted from our jobs. We needed listening ears, open minds, and non judgemental opinions. I know that we both got what we needed. It was good. Actually, it was super special.

I met up with my "lifer" today. It took about 10 seconds to feel like I was staring at the 20 year old that I lived with at Asbury so many years ago. She is pretty much the same. She looks a little older and is much more talkative but she still has the same mannerisms, smile, and great sense of thoughtfulness.

We had a very relaxing time. We did absolutely nothing....except eat, sleep, and talk. That is what we both wanted to do so it worked out great until the the last 5 minutes of the adventure. We were just saying our goodbyes and I realized that my keys were not in my purse. They also weren't in my pocket. Or my suitcase. Or my computer bag, my hotel room, the hotel lobby, the hotel breakfast area, the inside of my car (I have a keyless entry code thingy), or Chili's, or McDonalds. We searched for a long time. I had given up and already called the wrecker so that he could tow my car to the Ford Dealership and they could "rechip" my car. I guess my car is fancy because if runs with a key and a chip. I just know that a "chip" meant that my pocket book was going to suffer some great loss that afternoon. As we waited for the tow truck, I mentioned to the front desk that I threw out some trash from my car when I first arrived and was wondering if I could check the dumpster. They said that they would send someone out to look in the dumpster and so I waited. Well, miracles do happen because five minutes later said garbage picker came back with my keys and a giant smile on his face. The tow truck was canceled and we all felt great. Hence the photo opp with both of us smiling and me holding some beautifully dirty keys!

Part two of the awful day turned better and then turned awful again. Vangie and I parted ways and I calculated the time that I needed to get back home before the kids got off the bus. I had exactly ten minutes to spare which was great because my stomach was growling and by this time is was 2:30 and I hadn't had lunch yet. I got into the car and drove for about 30 minutes and then saw a fast food drive thru that I could tolerate. I reached behind my seat to grab my purse and BAM! My purse was not there. It was not there because it was in Vangie's car, which was heading in the opposite direction.

My purse is now in the mail. And of course Monday is Columbus Day. I am thinking that Tuesday may be my first perfect day since Thursday. We'll have to see!

Road Trip!

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. I have had parent teacher conferences and have been out everynight this week. I am looking forward to having Friday off. My children both have school on Friday so let me tell you what is about to go down!

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I had reconnected on Facebook with a college room mate that I haven't seen in 16 years! Tomorrow I will jump in the car after parent teacher conferences and travel to the halfway point in Indiana and have a "paint the town red" party with her. I am like a middle schooler tonight....I can't decide what outfit to pack and I can't sleep because I am so excited!

We have rented a room at Comfort Inn and I am bringing popcorn and a deck of cards. It should be a blasty blast!

I will take pictures....well at least one!
Heidi

My children are currently reading the same book series called "Warriors". In the few years that both of them have been reading, this phenomena has never happened. Let me remind you that Madison prefers "historical fiction with two pounds of action and a spice of romance" and Nate prefers just plain historical fiction. This book collection is about a pack of cats and I guess they are warriors....or at least this is what I gather from their highly intelligent impromptu book group which happens at least once a day.
I asked Madison to summarize the "Warriors" Series and she said, "It's about lots of cats in the forest who are trying to survive and they are all in 4 different groups who have different territories and their goal is to have different territories by fighting for them with claw and tooth."


Since we are at grandpa and grandma's house and the toy options are somewhat limited, Maddie and Nate decided that they would play out the books in live feline action with little cats that they have. There is only one small problem:

The "warriors" aren't that fierce.

Over the river and through the woods.

Tomorrow we "blast off" to Grandma's house! I can't wait to get on with the adventure. It is an understatement to announce that this week has been long. A break to Lapeer will be good.

One of the reasons that I am going for a visit is that my mom does all my laundry. Ok, that was true but really not the reason I was thinking of! Mom is participating in a quilt show in a few weeks that is being sponsored by her Methodist Church. She told me a few days ago that "when you do a show that is not sponsored by a guild, you really don't know how many entries/quilts you are going to end up with". So, in order to see this "show" survive, she is supplying about 75 quilts from her collection that she has made. I mean, who really wants to come to a show and see just five quilts? Since she has given me quite a few as gifts, I wanted to bring her some for the show! Now I wish that I could come and see the show because about 80% of the show is her! And everyone knows that you can never get enough of your mother! Hopefully, my dad will take lots of pictures for a future blog post!

The ones that are pictured in this post are the ones I am lending her.

Well, there you have it. Another tidbit that really doesn't matter that much to some of you but matters a huge amount to me!

Blessings for a great day ahead!

Heidi

Somedays are not so great.

It has been a day that probably should not be repeated. For a very long time. Here's a rundown of the "highlights" of a low day.

6:00a.m. I woke up on account of my bladder. I glanced at my clock and relized that I had reset the time last night to my alarm time and my "actual" time had been set to my alarm setting. Thank you, Lord, for alarm clock bladders.

7:20a.m. Dropped Nathan off at school. At that point I realized that I had left my cell phone on the counter.

7:40 a.m. Arrived at Colonial Kitchen (my Fave breakfast spot) for a meeting with a friend/collegue. He forgot about it. I waited for 20 minutes and then ordered my breakfast.

8:20 a.m. Headed to school to take my first guitar lesson!

8:21 a.m. Realized that my guitar was with my phone. At home.

8:40a.m. Canceled the guitar lesson when I could get to a phone at school.

8:45 a.m. Listened to my band director friend talk about his awful weekend. For the next hour.

10:00 a.m. Gave a lecture to my Varsity (audtioned) choir about how they better start singing and acting like a Varsity choir.

11:30 a.m. Heated my soup in the microwave only to dump it on the counter, down the cabinets, and onto the floors while I was taking it out of the oven. It was very hot and it was a tomato based vegetable. (for those of you thinking about how I had to clean up a spill).

11:45a.m. Cleaned the kitchen area in my office and opted to go buy an apple and a carton of milk. And eat 6 whoppers (malted milk balls). (This moment was by far the most delicious decision of the day).

2:35 p.m. School ended and I walked to my car only to discover an almost flat tire. Nail in the tire. Could see it with my naked eye.

3:05p.m. Got the tire filled at a gas station on my way to pick up Nathan.

3:30p.m. Arrived at the middle school and almost fell asleep waiting for the boy to get done with band practice.

4:00p.m. Got ready for a quick nap.
4:01p.m. Stan arrived and wanted to go out for early dinner.
4:06p.m. Maddie arrived home "starving".
4:07p.m. Given up last bit of hope that I will get a nap.

4:20p.m. Loaded into the car for Cracker Barrel.

4:40p.m. Were seated and given the nicest waitress. Who was way too busy. So we waited for 20 minutes.

5:15 p.m. Dinner! Rush, rush, rush.

5:45p.m. Madison and I departed for Children's choir Rehearsal.

6:00p.m. I stood in line for "reserved seating" tickets for the December 6th Holiday concert.

6:45p.m. 45 MINUTES OF WAITING IN LINE--made it to the front of the line. The concert is on the 7th, not the 6th.

6:46 p.m. GIANT PROBLEM: MAJOR CONFLICT Trying not to cry as I make my way to my car.

6:47p.m. Reached my car, checked my calendars and confirmed that Madison's concert and my chorale concert (that I direct) are on the EXACT SAME TIME AND EXACT SAME DATE. Can't understand how this happened when I checked the dates twice before booking.

7:01 p.m. Arrived at Belle Tire only to find that they had closed one minute earlier. Put more air in my tire before I left.

7:02 p.m. Arrived at Meijer and broke a dozen eggs as I put them into my cart.

7:10p.m. Checked out

7:30p.m. Picked up Madison and headed home.

8:30p.m. Started this post.

8:45p.m. Getting ready to publish this and still have no idea how to make myself magically appear at both places on December 7th. Any ideas?

Goodnight. Heidi

A little Fall cleaning.

Instead of cleaning the house today, I decided to try some new templates out and fix my signature which has looked a bit "skeletonly" since I changed the layout last.

Anyway, I guess I will try this look for the weekend. I should really start my fall cleaning now.

The 2nd week of Trombone

It is with great honor that I present my first absolutely horribly homemade video post!
Enjoy!



Maybe I should actually read the instructions to imovie before the next attempt!
Heidi

A tough day for Maddie

It was a mixed day of emotions for my youngest today. She is in a gifted/talented program at her school and the G/T teachers take the brightest out of school one full day a week and expose them to all sorts of engaging activities. It is a place that they all learn to get along and develop tolerance towards other G/T students.

The "getting along" with others was a real chore for Maddie today. In the process of not being nice to other children, she decided to also be rude and disrespectful to two of the teachers along the way. I got a phone call from one of the teachers before I left my own school explaining in detail the day-that-shall-not-be-named. Even though Madison has a lot of pride issues to deal with and doesn't do well with admission of guilt, I think she got the idea that she had done something really wrong. The two teachers who were the targets of her frustration today were Ms. K and Ms. C. She doesn't know Ms. K very well but Ms. C has been her G/T teacher for 3 years! Here are her letters of apology. Don't mention these to her in person....that would not be good for my relationship with her. Oh, before I share the letters, I wanted to tell you that these letters are actually 2nd drafts. The first drafts simply had the word "I'm sorry" scribbled across the half sheet of torn paper. By the end of my extremely well crafted and eloquent "speech of insensitivity", she ripped the letters up and stomped off to her room. We have to work on anger management too! But after 10 minutes of soul searching, she came down the steps with big crocodile tears in her eyes and presented the new letters.

Letter to Ms. K:
Dear Ms K,
I am sorry for the way I acted at the learning center. I acted like I was spoiled. I should have acted more like my friends who didn't get upset. Please forgive me.
Madison P.

Letter to Ms. C:
Dear Ms C,
I'm sorry about how I cried yesterday. I'm really sad about how I acted and know I made a mistake. Ms. K's letter was easier to write becsue I don't know her as much. But writing one to you is harder because I feel so guilty. So I hope you can forgive me.
Madison P.

Isn't it amazing that even a nine year old can feel how hard it is to apologize to the people that we care about the most? I think Madison is on the right track.

Always,
Heidi

Help me, I'm drowning

I am not feeling well. I have watched all the people that surround me on a daily basis get colds for the past two weeks. I have been healthy through it all--until yesterday. I woke up with a sore throat and lots of drainage. It, the stuff in my head and throat, has now made its way to my ears and they hurt now!

Today I had no church responsibilities so I took the day off. I try very hard not to feel guilty but my parents taught me well and it is hard to just stay home. I decided that it would only be right. It is not good to expose people to this nasty cold!

I am cooking and cleaning today. I know it's Sunday but I rested a lot yesterday!
Happy week ahead!

An Old Friend

I have walked through life with countless friends. About 20 years ago when I was in college, I heard a sermon about how we have emotional layers of friendships. I don't remember the whole sermon, but I do remember three of the friend categories. One category was an "acquaintance"--the kind of friend that is always nice to you and you are nice back but that is about as far as the friendship goes. I have a TON of these friends. I think it goes along with the territory of being in leadership positions in my professional life. (I always have wondered if people assume that I have lots of friends because I am the "director" or the "manager" or the "teacher"? ..... hmmmm)

Another category was the "casual friend"--it was the layer that included people that you might go shopping with or invite over to play a game with. I tend to have a handful of these friends that have surrounded me for most of my life.

The last layer of friendship that I can remember was called the "lifer". It is a friend that has been there for many years of your life and may not always be a physical part of your life but you always feel a connection with them and when they do show back up, you experience great joy and incredible overwhelming relief that they are still the same. Just like you remember. And you realize that you REALLY miss this person. I remember sitting in the pew that morning thinking "I don't have this "lifer" category in my life...it must be for old people". I was 19 years old then.

Well, guess what? I am officially OLD.

Tonight I was on Facebook and my old room mate from college found me and invited me to be her friend. She was also in my wedding. And she knew how to hot wire her Audi if it didn't start in the rain--this is still a very impressive trait that I hold very high on the coolness list. I, of course, accepted her request to be my friend, and was so excited when her name popped up on my screen. She and I were very close in college but somehow we lost contact with each other several years ago. Tonight she was online when I was online so we started to instant message each other. It took like 5 minutes to fall into the old rhythm of conversation and jokes with each other. It was almost as if time had stood still. She is still the same.... and I am too. And guess what again? I think I have a "lifer".

Sometimes it is really good to get old. I need to go dry my eyes now.

Happy Friday Peeps.

Heidi

Sam I am.

Today after school I stopped at Sam's Club for 2 items-some gatorade for Nathan and some granola bars for Maddie.

I didn't know that Sam's was so special on a Thursday afternoon at 3p.m. I apparently have been left in the dark for some time. Besides picking up my two items, I also picked up the following: whoopie pie, frozen sliced strawberries, porkloin, chicken/spinach sausage, swiss cheese, chicken noodle soup, shrimp scampi, 2 bite scones, and chicken pasta casserole....all in sample size cups.

I figured that I consumed at least a few hundred calories and decided that dinner could be very small. Today Sam(ple) I was. Tomorrow Sam(ple) I may be again. It was an extremely tasty afternoon treat!

Happy day Peeps!
Heidi

Lean verses Fat

I am getting ready to make a very important decision.... I made two choices for dinner tonight and would like you to help me make the choice of what to eat. Ready? Don't forget to comment!

THIS--

OR...........

THIS!!

See you when I have to wipe off my face and take a drink of milk!
HAPPY HEIDI

Coca Cola Cake

I am all set to make this lovely tasting and looking coca cola cake tomorrow as my night time project. I call it a night time project because I have an evening meeting but I need the cake by Thursday so I guess I will be up a bit late. I owe it to a lady in my church choir. Please let me explain!

A few weeks ago our church celebrated their 175th birthday. The service was set to start at 10:30 a.m. and conclude many minutes later. In that service, we had a baptism, communion by intinction for 600 people, brass quintet, string trio, 4 anthems, 3rd grade bible presentations, and everything else like sermons, offertories, prayer, and hymns that you would find in a typical Sunday service. Just for fun, I decided that we, the choir, would have a contest to guess the ending time of the service. First prize would be a cake--not an ordinary Better Crocker $.99 cake but a Coca-Cola Cake. You can look at the recipe here. It is absolutely divine.

Most people guessed in the teens of 12 o'clock for an ending time. One lady guessed super early (11:35a.m.) and another guessed super late (12:44p.m.). Every time a minute clicked by and someone's guess lost the contest, I looked at that person and just shook my head. They shook back and acknowledged defeat. Some of them even put a quick "L" on their forehead. Much sadness spread through the choir. It probably wasn't the best contest for a celebration Sunday! My winner was Nancy with a guess of 12:38. People, we were in church for over 2 hours! We are Methodists....we must have set a record for something! Nancy, the elementary art teacher, will get the cake.

It's a lot of stress. I hope my frosting looks perfect. She's an artist! I know she will be judging....

Heidi

A rain to remember

It has been a very blustery and rainy weekend. We felt the remnants of hurricane Ike way up in Michigan all through the weekend. 9.2 inches of rain fell in 3 days. It was bad.

My pictures do not show the rain all that well. But bad pictures are better than no pictures at all. These are all taken from my front and back porches....I didn't want to venture out into the puddles.

My beverage of choice

Today started out to be just a normal day. It was the first Saturday of our first full week of school and I couldn't wait to be able to sleep in, do some power cooking, and enjoy my children's company! Here is a run down of my "normal" day:

1. Tried to sleep in until 8a.m. but my bladder woke me up at 7.

2. Got up and discovered that my other early riser (Nathan) was up as well. Our chatter woke the youngest member of our family. She decided that is was "Mom and Maddie Morning" and told me to get ready to go out for breakfast with her!

3. Even though I paid, it was fun! Then I got the phone call that changed and rearranged my whole day!

4. A client from the auditorium called me and told me that there was some major leaking on the roof that covered the stage. A performance was scheduled for 3 p.m. today and the leaks were were right in the front of the stage!

5. I called lots of people....and finally got a crew to commit to come out TOMORROW to fix the roof. Not much of a help when you have 2 shows that are scheduled for TODAY.

6. I made a trip to the auditorium to find that the clients had an American flag that they wanted to magically fly in at the end of the show. This is usually no problem but when we hung the flag, it was so huge that when we brought the flag down it piled miserably onto the floor when the stars started to appear. So, we tipped the flag fat ways and totally broke all the rules of safety to get the flag to stay in place and prayed that it wouldn't fall during the shows.

7. After spending just an hour at the auditorium, I had everyone taken care of and the show started. I snuck out the back door, leaving two very capable techies in charge.

8. As our family was enjoying a nice homemade chicken dinner in the late afternoon, I heard the siren blow. WHAT??? A tornado warning in September?? This can't be happening!!

9. I made a frantic phone call to my techies, couldn't get a hold of them, and then my cell phone rang a minute later. A stage manager from the group that was in there had already decided that they should stop the show and take cover. He just wanted to know where to put 200 people!

10. I very calmly gave him directions. I knew that I should have been there doing this in person. I then poured an extremely large glass of Diet Caffiene Free Coke, convinced my children that we weren't going to perish, and headed to the basement.

11. So, that is how my day has gone so far. A bit too eventful for a Saturday. The Tornado has passed and we are safe and I will continue to sit in the basement and sip Diet Coke for a few more minutes!

Heidi

A Wild Week

It is the first full week of school and I have appointments, meetings, bookings, or rehearsals every night of the week! By Saturday, I will have experienced 14 hours of choir rehearsals, 4 hours of open houses, 5 hours of musical practice, 4 hours of auditorium set ups, 4 class orientation hours that I ran sound and lights for, and endless hours of tending to my daughter's newest cold virus. And this has all happened "after school".

It has been an intense week to say the least. But I am grateful for a job that makes me smile and makes me feel needed. And I am extremely grateful for Great Wall Express, Wendy's, Subway, and Papa John's. Maybe next week I can stick in 5 hours of cooking time as well and feel much better about my health!
Later Peeps!
Heidi

A fabulous weekend/Man of the day!

It is not very often that you belong to a church that celebrates a birthday....a 175th birthday. Our church did just this today and it was a huge festive service complete with 3 commissioned pieces. Stu was asked to compose a piece in February that turned into a 5 movement piece that featured a string trio and choir. It was set in the style of Holst/Vaughn Williams and was done very well. It was a challenge for our choir because much of it was written using 9th, 11th, and 13th chords but it was very beautiful when it was finally learned and performed!

Here are some pictures from the weekend. Our sanctuary just got repainted and we are under a two million dollar renovation so I don't have many things to show.

This was a Saturday afternoon casual concert. Didn't
want to give you Baptists a heart attack!

Heidi

Coming up for air

WOW! What a start to the week. It is too much detail to go into, but I am exhausted! My mixed choir (beginners) is comprised of almost half that are brand new to my choir program. It has been a lot of review of process this week. I vocally tested everyone and tomorrow will be seat placements within each section.

Tomorrow is a long rehearsal for choir at church. It is a long week and I am wishing that Friday was already here!

See you on the weekend. When I have time to breathe!

School Daze

I am in a school daze. Of course I couldn't sleep last night and my alarm clock rang far too early.

Below is a picture of another procrastination technique that I used yesterday. Here is the best tasting pencil ever!

I'll write more after I collapse on the couch this afternoon!